What Is the Project to Support Social Economy Enterprises in Africa

With the support of the Fédération genevoise de coopération, the Institut panafricain pour le développement – Afrique de l’Ouest et Sahel (IPD-AOS) and Yam-Pukri, the Project to support social economy enterprises in Africa (PA-ESSA) was set up to support cooperatives, mutual societies, associations and all enterprises with an innovative value, to improve their skills. Over an eight-month period, 19 women and 16 men from Burkina Faso were trained in the social economy.

“Organizing training to strengthen the skills of players in the social economy is very important because it’s a sector in which many people work. We found that these players lack the skills to support their structures and develop,” explained Sylvie Ouédraogo, project coordinator.

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In her view, the social/solidarity-based economy is founded on a number of values: solidarity, democracy, participation, environmental protection, and economic development

“This sector engages many people excluded from the classic development system, such as the public and private sectors. We decided that the project should reach out to all regions and even beyond borders,” explained the coordinator.

Project beneficiaries say they are well-equipped and ready to put what they have learned into practice. “We applied for this program because the social and solidarity economy is a new concept. At the Confédération Paysanne, we defend the family farm. This is an opportunity for us to make this concept our own, and to associate it with our missions and values. Taking part in these three training sessions will enable us to integrate the basics and principles of the social and solidarity economy”, said Seydou Ouédraogo, a farmer in the Sissili region.

Fatou Baki/Traoré, from the Zoodo action en solidarité network in the Plateau Central region, is also a beneficiary of the program. Thanks to the project, she was awarded the “Femme Leadership” prize in Benin on October 14th. “The skills we have acquired will enable us to improve the management of our businesses and promote our products. It has also provided us with research techniques”, she added.

The Project to Support Social Economy Enterprises in Africa (PA-EESSA) is an extension of the Project to support RAESS restructuring, which saw the end of its first capacity-building phase for SSE leaders on May 31, 2018, for the Ouagadougou cluster.

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(Featured image by stevepb via Pixabay)

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First published in lefaso.net. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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